The wineries of the Cava Designation of Origin reached a new record in 2023, with 252 million bottles sold, a 1% increase, and an aggregated turnover volume of 2.2 billion euros. The year was saved thanks to the domestic market, which grew by 4%, while exports experienced a slight setback of 0.25% due to a drop in sales in the United States (-13%).
Everything indicates that this will be, for now, the last record the sector will break, as production volume is expected to decrease in the next two or three years as a consequence of the drought. There will be less supply and, therefore, a generalized price increase is foreseen, which will, incidentally, contribute to the revaluation of the cava brand, an aspect long demanded by a large part of the sector, which asks to move away from volume and bet on quality. Currently, the average selling price of a bottle of cava is 8.5 euros.
It should be noted that since 2021, grape production destined for cava has experienced, due to the lack of rain, a 30% drop, a figure that rises to 37.8% if only the hectares of Catalunya are analyzed. "And everything indicates that we are once again on the verge of a new short and difficult harvest," asserted this Wednesday the president of the Cava Regulatory Council, Javier Pagés, during the presentation of the 2023 economic results. This is a totally exceptional situation, as the sector came from a context of overproduction. As a consequence of this lower grape input, fewer bottles could be produced and some large companies, such as Freixenet, have already announced that they will not have enough production to supply key markets such as Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Pagés expressed his deep concern about the consequences that this long period of drought will bring to winegrowers and producers, although he did not venture to quantify the number of vineyard hectares that will die due to lack of rain. He asked the Generalitat to "find a way to get water and channel it so that it can reach areas like the Penedès." "Providing water is a public responsibility," he asserted, after demanding a "rigorous" scientific study that allows planning the supply of regenerated or desalinated water "if the Penedès is truly to be maintained with vineyards."
The president of the Regulatory Council has announced that in the coming weeks the CAVA DO could approve a measure that can help producers partially compensate for this situation. This involves the implementation "of a base wine guarantee provision tool" similar to what champagne or other DOs like La Rioja already have. Thus, base wines that were not previously allowed to make cava, being the result of an excess yield in the vineyard or in the pressing process, can now be used.
Even so, Pagés has been emphatic in assuring that they will be vigilant in complying with the rules and has pointed out that "we cannot do magic tricks" to maintain the production volumes with which wineries have worked until now. Consequently, he stated, "we are going to see price increases," and a clear commitment to increasingly market "cavas of a higher level at higher prices." "There will be a certain scarcity of product, so producers will have to better plan their inventories and better choose their clients, abandoning those clients or markets of lower value" and opting for those that are more profitable or strategic, he predicted.
Freixenet launches a sparkling wine alternative to cava
Freixenet, which leads cava sales in Germany, announced this week the first major move in this regard by indicating that the "drastic decrease" in production "makes it impossible to meet demandof consumers in certain international markets." Due to this "limiting situation," the company assures that it "has been forced" to launch in the markets of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland a new sparkling wine alternative to cava to meet consumer demand in these three countries.This new product, which it will sell under the brand Freixenet Premium Sparkling Wine–Cuvée de España, is made using the so-called charmat method, a much more economical production technique than the traditional champenoise method used in the production of cavas and champagne. The main difference is that in the traditional method, the second fermentation takes place inside the same bottle that reaches the consumer's home and after long months of aging, while with the charmat or cuve close method, the process is much faster, as the second fermentation takes place in large stainless steel tanks. According to Freixenet, to produce this sparkling wine in the facilities that its subsidiary UCSA ---producer of the Dubois brand--- has in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, base wine or grapes not qualified for cava from Spain will be used.
Cava exports fall
Regarding the results for 2023,Pagéshas once again underlined "the strength of the cava sector despite economic and geopolitical turbulence." The DO Cavamarketed last year 2.7 million bottles more than in 2022,until reaching almost 252 million bottles, a 1% increase (the rise in 2022 was 4.58%). Unlike what had happened for many years,now it is the Spanish market that is driving the cava sector,with a 4% increase in sales, which adds to the 13% increase experienced in 2022.On the contrary, the foreign market ---which accounts for 70% of total sales--- has confirmed its slowdown. If in 2022 exports grew a slight 1.2%, in 2023 the international market recorded a 0.25% drop, dragged down by inflation in the main European markets and also by the 13.48% decrease in exports to the United States, Cava's second largest client outside of Spain. According to Pagés, this drop is due to an "inventory imbalance" and the strong competition in the US wine market. On the contrary, last year, sales grew by 4% in Germany, 5.4% in Belgium, and 5.3% in the United Kingdom. Brazil stands out as an emerging country, with a 75% increase.
Pagés also highlighted that in 2023 organic Cavas grew by 24.5%, with a total of 32.3 million certified bottles. This figure will continue to increase strongly, since, by 2025, 100% of Guarda Superior Cavas ---those aged more than 18 months--- must be organic, a goal that he assured will be met. In fact, 2023 was the first year that Guarda Superior Reserva Cavas with a minimum aging of 18 months were released to the market, since before the change in the norm the aging period was 15 months.